Big Fish Games found success with the Awakening series, a hidden object title that took players by storm. Next on the docket is Awakening Kingdoms, an interesting amalgam of hidden objects, puzzles, things to collect, and even building management simulation to keep things busy. Unfortunately, it ends up succumbing to some of the more repetitious aspects of casual gaming.
The Good
You're tasked with helping out Queen Sophia's Skyward Kingdom, after her kingdom goes to war with the mage Dreadmyre. Create a character and head out into the world to manage the kingdom and rebuild it from the ground up, all the while constructing and upgrading the queen's castle and surrounding areas.
You'll search various scenes for items in order to gain money and resources, and because you're so up close and personal with the action going on to rebuild the kingdom, you can really appreciate the work you're doing to make things look better. There's also a wide variety of quests to keep you busy as well as a likeable cast of characters to interact with.
The Bad
Unfortunately, you soon find yourself exploring and scouring the same hidden object scenes over and over, which undoubtedly leads to some frustrating instances where you realize you've been looking at the same few screens several times.
In addition, there are some free-to-play pitfalls, but that's to be expected in the genre. There are some parts of the map that are listed as "coming soon," as well, so there are bits of content that have yet to be loaded in.
The Verdict
Awakening Kingdoms is a robust and full-featured mixture of genres, but it still stumbles a bit when it comes to finding its footing in the grand scheme of free-to-play titles. If you're a fan of the Awakening games, you'll find Kingdoms agreeable, however.
The Good
You're tasked with helping out Queen Sophia's Skyward Kingdom, after her kingdom goes to war with the mage Dreadmyre. Create a character and head out into the world to manage the kingdom and rebuild it from the ground up, all the while constructing and upgrading the queen's castle and surrounding areas.
You'll search various scenes for items in order to gain money and resources, and because you're so up close and personal with the action going on to rebuild the kingdom, you can really appreciate the work you're doing to make things look better. There's also a wide variety of quests to keep you busy as well as a likeable cast of characters to interact with.
The Bad
Unfortunately, you soon find yourself exploring and scouring the same hidden object scenes over and over, which undoubtedly leads to some frustrating instances where you realize you've been looking at the same few screens several times.
In addition, there are some free-to-play pitfalls, but that's to be expected in the genre. There are some parts of the map that are listed as "coming soon," as well, so there are bits of content that have yet to be loaded in.
The Verdict
Awakening Kingdoms is a robust and full-featured mixture of genres, but it still stumbles a bit when it comes to finding its footing in the grand scheme of free-to-play titles. If you're a fan of the Awakening games, you'll find Kingdoms agreeable, however.
3.5/5
